One of the members of GRACE’s Board of Directors who isn’t an oncology person asked me for a recommendation for a general book on cancer for the public.  I didn’t have a good answer, because most of my reading has been for physicians, but it’s a great question.  I like to think that we and the internet provide a lot of very helpful information for patients, but there are some books that can provide a very good overview of multiple cancers, a huge range of cancer topics, and also some books dedicated just to specific cancers like lung cancer. 

    Because I actually haven’t read these in any detail, I’d consider them more of a wish list of books I’d like to get to, and/or get some opinions from people who have read these carefully.  I’d like to learn what books people have found the be the best resources, and perhaps we can add them to the sections on “other resources” in the new website, so please add your comments (they’re back up):

   Everyone’s Guide to Cancer Therapy (5th Ed) is written by specialists on each topic, largely at Univ. of California, San Francisco.  It has received great reviews on Amazon, and my read of much of the lung cancer chapter (at least, a good skimming) really showed that it was a very good general review, with less detail than we’d include here, but a very nice, brief summary — and I think pretty easy to find a few pages on what you’re looking for.  Probably a great resource if you want a book of general cancer information and have family members affected by different types of cancer.

   Chemotherapy and Radiation for Dummies is by doctors I’m not familiar with, but it covers a wide range of general topics in cancer.  The information is pretty general, but it’s also received very favorable reviews on Amazon.  I know of some experts who have objected to writing for a series that calls its target audience of the non-medical public “dummies”, but I suppose it’s so well established that most readers won’t take it personally.  I’ve got a bunch of books in the Dummies series on various side interests(don’t worry - none on medical topics)

   One in Three, by British TV director and producer Adam Wishart, is a different kind of cancer book.  It’s not written to provide a guidebook on lung cancer for the general public, but rather is a combined narrative in which the author writes about the personal journey of his father’s decline from terminal cancer, interwoven with a very extensive discussion of the history of cancer and its treatment.  I’m interested in the history of cancer and its treatment, so I’m intrigued by it, but I think it’s of greater interest to people interested in something to relate to and think about.  It wouldn’t really be helpful in helping to understand treatment options.

    Lung Cancer: Myths, Facts, Choices and Hope is a book for the general public by Dr. Claudia Henchke, Chief of Thoracic Imaging at Cornell Weill Medical School in NYC (and subject of a firestorm for accepting tobacco money for research on chest CT screening for lung cancer; see prior post and comments in forum section), along with Peggy McCarthy, who led the Alliance for Lung Cancer Advocacy, Support, and Education (ALCASE, which later morphed into the somewhat different Lung Cancer Alliance).  As you would expect from the authors, a significant portion of the book is dedicated to a discussion of the merits of CT screening, , but there is also some general discussion of the concepts and utility of surgery, radiation, and chemo, and where these are appropriately used.  In addition, there are chapters dedicated to complementary medicine, surveillance and survivorship, and quality of life issues. 

  I described the book With Every Breath: A Lung Cancer Guidebook in a prior post.  This book is available in print, or you can download chapters at no cost, from the Lung Cancer Caring Ambassador Program.  This group includes many of the people formerly with ALCASE.  It’s written by Tina St. John, MD, who’s husband died of lung cancer at a very young age.  This is a very comprehensive book, and while you can’t beat the price of free for the download version, even the print version is a big and very thorough and well worth $20, and I doubt their making much money from this.  Like OncTalk, they’re putting this information on the internet at no cost because they care and want people to have this information, much more than they want to make much money from selling books. 

  I just really wanted to get the ball rolling here.  I’m sure several members have opinions about these and especially other book resources, or some other materials, that have been helpful in understanding the options and how to approach their cancer, or maybe lung cancer in particular.  Please provide your comments, both to tell other members about additional useful information, and also so that we can add some print materials to our list of other resources.